Marco Rubio Is Conservatism's Only Hope In Florida

The Republican race for the state's 2010 U.S. Senate election is a living symbol of the on-going fight for the party's soul. The blue-blood, country-club, establishment Republicans support Florida governor Charlie Crist. If you aren't familiar with Crist, think of Arlen Specter crossed with George Hamilton. The big difference is that Crist is even more of a political opportunist. Elizabeth Meinecke's piece in Human Events provides a primer on Crist's political "philosophy" as compared to his challenger, Marco Rubio:

A diluted Republican message is the watermark of Rubio's Republican primary opponent Charlie Crist, the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s anointed
candidate in the race. Crist campaigned around Florida supporting President Obama’s “stimulus” spending spree and, after an “environmental summit” last
year, proposed his own version of a “cap-and-trade” plan which the state legislature rejected.

“The United States does not need two Democratic parties,” Rubio insists, and, despite the Democrats’ stranglehold in both the House and the Senate, the makeup of Republicans who did get elected proves Rubio’s point. The group of conservatives in the U.S. House -- known as the Republican Study Committee -- now has 113 members, which means it represents well over half the total GOP (177) members in the House...

...“I think next year’s elections, especially in the Republican primaries, are going to be a lot like a political Halloween,” Rubio said. “A lot of people are going to come dressed to the party like conservatives, but in fact, in the real…world, they haven’t been that, not in a principled way.

It’s exactly the kind of race Republican ‘leaders’ like the NRSC (not to mention the chairman of the Republican party in Rubio’s own state) are saying Rubio can’t win, and exactly the reason why Rubio is running -- because he sees a disconnect between party leaders and constituents. For example, Rubio says the majority of Americans don’t want to see their government adapting a Western European style invasion into the economy.

One thing that has been clear at the Tea Party events I have attended, including the Million Patriot March in D.C., is that grass roots Conservatives are as angry with phony Republicans as they are with Leftist Democrats. Simply placing an (R) after the name does not impress the revived political awareness of Real America. True Conservatives who will legislate on principle are valued. Polished politicians with no soul can keep moving.

Can Rubio win? All indications are that he can, as discussed by George Will in The Washington Post. However, whether Rubio or Crist is likelier to win the Florida seat is irrelevant. Crist's loyalty to Conservatism will be based on the most recent poll. If the political winds dictate, he will support the Democrats at every turn. When Republicans support Leftist/Statist legislation, they give legitimacy to those who disrespect the Constitution and the American people. The RINOs are the reason the GOP took a beating in 2006 and 2008. The last thing Republicans need to do is elect more.